In 1977, in the evaluation of the prevention programme for cardiovascular diseases, 11,880 persons in Eastern Finland were asked to report their own weight on a questionnaire. Each participant was weighted during the following clinical examination. The data of the self-reported body weight were analysed according to sex, age, measured weight and body-mass index (BMI). The results showed that older people underestimated their weight to a greater extent than did younger people of both sexes. The error between measured and self-reported weight was greater in heavier subjects than in thinner individuals. In both sexes weight estimate error (measured weight minus self-reported weight) correlated more strongly with high BMI than with measured weight. Associations between weight estimate error and other variables were studied using a multiple regression model. Men whose annual family income was low were more likely to underestimate their weight than the men with a high annual income. In general, women reported their weight more correctly than men did. Older women were more likely to report their weight less than younger women, whereas women who visited their doctor frequently or who had higher annual family incomes were more aware of their actual body weight than those who had few doctor's consultations or whose family income was low. In men 5.2% and in women 8.3% of the variation in the weight estimate error was explained by the regression model.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Body mass index (weight (kg) divided by height squared (m2)) and its association with the risk of myocardial infarction and death from all causes were studied prospectively in a randomly selected population sample in eastern Finland aged 30-59 at outset in 1972. The study population consisted of 3786 men and 4120 women. The participation rate in the survey in 1972 was over 90%. AlU deaths and admissions to hospital in the sample were obtained from the National Death Certificate and Hospital Discharge Registers. During the seven years of follow up until 1978, 170 men and 52 women had acute myocardial infarction, and during the nine years up to 1980, 223 men and 92 women died. Independent of age, men with a body mass index of 28-5 or more had a significantly higher incidence of acute myocardial infarction. This effect was also independent of smoking but not independent of biological coronary risk factors-that is, serum cholesterol concentration and blood pressure. In the analysis stratified for smoking in men the body mass index total mortality curve was J shaped among non-smokers, whereas smoking entirely outweighed body mass index as a predictor of death. Body mass index did not contribute significantly to the risk of either acute myocardial infarction or death in women.It is concluded that a body mass index of around 29-0-31,0 or more is not only a marker for coronary risk factors but is also a predictor of acute myocardial infarction in men. IntroductionSeveral studies have examined whether obesity is associated with increased mortality or more frequent coronary heart disease. Though the risk of death for people who are very obese has turned out to be unequivocally higher than that for non-obese people,'3 results have been inconsistent.4 '4 The role of obesity seems to vary in importance-among different populations, at different ages, and between men and women. The detection of smoking as a powerful confounder of the relation between relative body weight and coronary heart disease and death has clarified part of this issue. 15-l' In the Framingham study, particularly in men under 50 and in women, obesity was found to be a predictor of the incidence of and mortality from coronary heart disease independent of age, serum lipoprotein values, blood pressure, smoking, and other risk factors," and in a recent report obesity was also related to mortality in non-smokers aged 65 and over.'" These findings have not been replicated in other parts of the world. After 15 years of follow up in the seven countries study Keys et al could not find an excess risk for death from all causes or coronary heart disease with increasing weight in any of the regions surveyed.'4 A study in Britain found a strong modifying effect of age on the association between weight and mortality (positive in 40-49 year olds, inverse in 60-64 year olds) and could not confirm overweight as an independent risk factor.9 In Finnish people aged 85 and over survival was positively associated with relative weight.20Not surprisingly the importance...

Objectives: Aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH) is reported to actuate blood coagulation. Rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM) is a dynamic haemostatic test that can differentiate various coagulation abnormalities, for example, increased coagulation activity can be detected as a wider amplitude of tracing (maximal clot firmness [MCF]). Previously, ROTEM has not been used to evaluate coagulation changes after aSAH. The aim of this prospective, observational study was to evaluate the ongoing coagulation process in patients with aSAH by comparing their ROTEM assay results to the control values obtained from patients undergoing clipping of non-ruptured aneurysms. Methods: ROTEM analyses were performed at 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours after onset of aSAH and were compared with preoperative analyses of the control group. In total, 17 aSAH treated in the intensive care unit and 16 control patients were enrolled. Results: At 72 hours, EXTEM-MCF was significantly higher in aSAH patients compared with the baseline value of the control group (68.0 mm [interquartile range, {IQR} 66.0-71.0 mm] vs. 64.5 mm [IQR, 59.5-66.8 mm]; P = 0.024). This was mainly due to increased fibrin formation and fibrin polymerisation as the same comparison in FIBTEM-MCF analysis yielded similar results (23.0 mm [IQR, 19.0-25.0 mm] vs. 15.4 mm [IQR, 12.5-17.8 mm], respectively; P=0.001). Conclusions: Blood coagulation is activated at 72 hours after onset of aSAH, which can be detected by ROTEM EXTEM-MCF analysis. At the same time, FIBTEM-MCF was elevated, implying that relative contribution of fibrin formation and fibrin polymerisation are essential.

Population-based data on changes in body mass index are scarce. We have examined about 9700 people aged 30-59 years in two provinces of East Finland in 1972, 1977 and 1982. The age adjusted mean value of body mass index (kg m-2) in 1972 was 26.0 +/- 3.4 in men and 26.9 +/- 4.7 in women, increasing with age. During the 10-year follow-up the mean body mass index increased in men to 26.5 +/- 3.6 (P less than 0.001). In women we found a decrease in mean body mass index to 26.4 +/- 4.9 (P less than 0.001). The increase trend in body mass with age remained in women, while in men the age trend increased from survey to survey. The proportion of obese men also increased while in younger women a decrease was observed. The results of this study show the association between changes in physical activity, education etc. and the observed changes in the body mass index.

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